Curated OER
Volcanoes!
Students define what a volcano is. They discover where and why volcanoes occur. They study effects of volcanoes on the Earth system.
Curated OER
Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Tsunamis
Students work in groups to research a tsunami, earthquake, or volcano. They use the internet to find information, and create a presentation. Each presentation should include a definition of their phenomenon, an illustration, three or...
Curated OER
Plate Tectonics
Seventh graders develop an understanding of plate tectonics. In this plate tectonics lesson students plot earthquake and volcano locations.
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Up in the Air
Students evaluate the impact of volcanic ash on the surroundin environment. Through discussion, videos and activities, they identify the various ways in which volcanic ash can be more detrimental than volcanic magma and lava.
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In the Rain Shadow
Young scholars, while utilizing a large wall map, experiment recording the annual precipitation for cities on the east and west sides of the Cascade Mountains. They discover that volcanic mountains do not have to erupt to affect the...
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Dating a Volcanic Eruption
Students discover the various ways in which tree rings can give information. After a brief disucssion of concentric tree rings, they use cross section cut outs of tree rings to identify the time and type of various naturally occuring...
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Hazards: Sixth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Sixth graders explore the damage associated with an earthquake by designing a structure that can withstand earthquake intensities on a shaker board. They then view tips for preparing for an earthquake, and what...
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Earthquakes: Third Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Introduce third graders to energy waves with a hands-on geology activity, in which they answer questions and compare seismograms in the San Francisco Bay area. After a demonstration that shows how bigger waves indicate a...
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Hazards: Second Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Equip learners with safety knowledge in the case of an earthquake. After coloring the places to go to get help after a quake, and label places that wouldn't be safe to go after a quake, young geologists simulate three levels of...
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Earthquakes: Fifth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
After learning about P waves and S waves, fifth graders view the intensity of earthquakes by examining seismographs and images of earthquake damage. Young scientists then forecasting future quakes by analyzing data about...
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Hazards: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Learn about damage associated with earthquakes and materials that best withstand a quake. A lab engages class members in the experimental design and construction of sturdy structures that can endure various earthquake...
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Earthquakes: Fourth Grade Lesson Plans and Activities
Examine earthquake intensities and ways to measure an earthquake through the comparison of the Mercalli and Richter scales. After completing the pre-lab worksheet, fourth graders compare high and low intensity quakes by testing...
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Plate Tectonics: Kindergarten Lesson Plans and Activities
This unit focuses primarily on plate tectonics and plate boundaries surrounding continents. It contains pre- and post-lab sections that walk young geologists through plate movements in order to visualize what's going on inside Earth.
Channel Islands Film
Island Rotation: Lesson Plan 1
How do scientists provide evidence to support the theories they put forth? What clues do they put together to create these theories? After watching West of the West's documentary Island Rotation class members engage in a series of...
California Academy of Science
Coincidental Colonization
The Galápagos Islands are an amazing place of isolated adaptation, colonized by an interesting mix of plants and animals. The class plays a game to help them understand how these organisms came to live on the island through a combination...
National Geographic
Mapping the Americas
Celebrate the geography of the Americas and develop map skills through a series of activities focused on the Western Hemisphere. Learners study everything from earthquakes and volcanoes of the Americas and the relationship...
Curated OER
When You're Hot, You're Not!!
Students investigate volcanoes. In this landforms activity, students locate two volcanoes on a world map. Students compare and contrast the types of volcanoes by using various Internet sites.
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Keeping Things Toasty in New Zealand
Students identify the signs of a volcanic eruption. In this earth science lesson, students compose a letter to their neighbor convincing them of an impending eruption. They recognize the danger in living near a volcano.
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A Burning Desire to Move?
Students consider the dangers of living around active volcanoes. They develop media campaigns to encourage different groups of residents around Mount Vesuvius to consider moving.
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Exploring Rocks
Pupils recognize differences in the size, shape, texture, and color of different rocks. In this rocks lesson plan, students also learn and repeat back how a volcano erupts and make one out of a toilet paper tube.
Curated OER
Mount St. Helens Shakes and Burps
Pupils uncover the nature of volcanoes and locate some of the world's active, dormant, and extinct volcanoes. They also discover how scientists detect, measure, and predict volcanic activity.
Curated OER
What's The Difference?
High schoolers identify geologic features that are associated with volcanoes. In this volcanic exploration lesson students compare and contrast convergent and divergent volcanoes and are able to explain why some erupt more...
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Explosive Ideas!
Students explore the layers of the Earth and the dynamic changes that they cause on Earth's surface. Volcanoes and earthquakes become the focus of the instructional activity as the Oregon State quarter and its Crater Lake images are...
Curated OER
A Hydrothermal Adventure
Students analyze hydrothermal vents. For this hydrothermal vents lesson, students discover the effects of hydrothermal vents on tectonic plates. Students make model hydrothermal vents to understand how they form and operate.